Baby Matthew and Baby Andrew

There is no denying Matthew and Andrew are brothers! I had remarkably similar pregnancies, and as newborns they have many similarities, although they do look different, sound different, and have their own personalities.

Getting ready to go to the hospital to give birth to Matthew (who made a wider bump)

Getting ready to go to the hospital to give birth to Andrew (who made a bigger bump in front!)

Weigh in for Matthew

Weigh in for Andrew

The two boys measured the exact same length (22 inches), but Andrew was exactly 1 ounce less, perhaps because he peed and pooped before they got him on the scale.

 

Matthew on the right, Andrew on the left

We're enjoying getting to know both boys as they grow.

Our Big Announcement, #2!

Andrew Lyle
Born July 25, 2016, at 2:53 p.m.
9 pounds, 6 ounces
22 inches

Worth the extra wait! This happy guy loves sleeping, listening to books with big brother, and above all eating. We are all well and all home. We are settling into life as a family of four.

4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July! We stayed close to home but certainly kept Matt busy the whole weekend.

On Friday Matt and I went to the local children's museum. 

Of course Matt made a beeline for the train table

All geared up and ready to go in the fire truck

Looking through the window of the "fire house"

Putting some ketchup on toast

Mopping up

Driving the lunar rover

Being a butterfly

When we got the mail that night, we found a familiar hat and shirt in the photo under the upcoming engineering day at the children's museum.

Saturday we stayed at home, but Matt was inspired by a Curious George episode to make himself into a robot.

Robot Matt

Sunday some friends invited us to the Museum of Science, where Matt and their son both had a great time looking at as many animals and pushing as many buttons as they could find.

Climbing on the spider sculpture in the special spider exhibit

Watching the spider film with his friend

Taking a closer look at the bees

Looking at the real triceratops bones

Examining a dinosaur footprint

Looking at a model of a steam train engine

Looking at the poison dart frogs in the special frog exhibit

Examining shells and sea creatures with Dada

 

 Sitting on eggs in the bird's nest

Being a busy bee

Listening to a story about bees

Building a beaver lodge

Taking a rest with the beaver in his new lodge

Building a glider

Having a good time (thanks to our friend for the fun action shot!)

Sunday night Jon and Matt went to see our town's firework display. It apparently was quite the show; I heard from several friends who normally go that the town outdid itself this year. Matt enjoyed his first fireworks experience, although not so much the waiting for the sun to go down and the right amount of darkness to come. He told Jon his favorites were the red ones - although by the next morning he had changed his mind to the blue ones.

On the 4th we stayed at home. This is going to be a hot week, and Monday started off quite warm. Plus Matt was tired and cranky from all of his activity and his late night. (He chose to read under the covers instead of nap, so he was still tired and cranky later in the day.) Still, he managed to build "castles" out of blocks, line up dinosaurs to guard the kitchen, play games with Dada, and find plenty of things to do.

June 2016 Recap

It's hard to believe June is already over and July is here, but it certainly feels like summer!

In addition to the outings I've already posted, we did go on a few other little trips.

We went to one of the small local zoos.

Watching the otters

Looking at the sloth bear

Unimpressed with the lazy lions

Digging in the sandbox with some buddies

Riding the bananamobile

We also went back to the zoo and playground we visited for the first time earlier this year.

Riding a bouncy animal

Saying hi to the pigs

 

Looking out of the train window

Our moms' club has been going on a tour of local playgrounds.

Riding a big wheel motorcycle and scooter at one playground

Riding on a bumblebee and ladybug

Driving the Jeep

Getting bolder on climbing structures

Watching a dig dig with a friend

We found a few train tables while out and about.

At a local library

At a bookstore

We found a Lego store at a local mall.

Trying out the Duplos

Getting acquainted with some of the many, many Duplos he has at home

We went to the Curious George birthday party at the library. One of Matt's Curious Georges came with us and posed for a photo.

(photo courtesy of the library)

We also went to the dairy bar a few times, including on Father's Day.

Feeding a goat

We also had a busy time at the annual town day this past weekend.

Having a good time on the Fun Bus

Enjoying his pony ride

And one more outing: we've been doing some swimming lessons with some of Matt's buddies.

Getting more comfortable in the water

All of those excursions made for a hungry kid.

Eating blueberries with a fork in both hands

With the warmer weather we have of course spent a lot of time outside in the yard.

Kicking his soccer ball

Trucks, trucks, and more trucks digging in the sand

Helping his dad put something together

First dip in his pool

Pensive Matt

Sometimes the heat chased us inside, though.

Painting, stickering, and more

Coloring in a catalogue

Play Doh

Putting blocks on the (unamused) cat

 

Fixing cars

Bouncing on his Rody

Thinking inside the box for easier access to his puppets

Reading during quiet time

Matt has definitely undergone a lot of growth the past couple of months. His imagination and ability to do pretend play has increased noticeably. He has also, well, had an increase in personality. He can be more stubborn, sassier, and even disobedient, but he is also sillier, goofier, and better able to communicate with other kids. He is also more likely to get upset when something bad or frightening, like losing a hat, happens to a character in a story or show. And Matt is getting more independent as well as interested in asserting his independence. We see this the most in the fact that Matt can now undress and dress himself - and he wants to do it all himself.

Matt successfully took off his pajamas, then picked out and put on these clothes (yes, the shoes are on the wrong feet), for the first time.